Prong buckle



June 21, 1932. J. SALISBURY PRONG BUCKLE Filed June 28. 1929 JEEELIF' EALIEBumy' Patented June 21, 1932 FATE J SALISBURY, OF HAMDEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN BUCKLE COMPANY, OF WEST HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT PRONG BUCKLE Application filed 'June 28,

This invention relates to prong buckles l 1aving means for protecting the prong points, the buckle being employed for achusting the length of straps and maintaining the ad usted length by penetrating the strap IIIELlDGI'lZIL The objects of the invention are to prov1de a buckle frame with means for protecting the prong points; to provide for such pivotal assembly of the buckle parts that a substanm tially unbroken interior line of loop formation is maintained; and to provide in connection with such assembly a full open interior breadth of buckle throughout the length of theprongs.

The invention consists in the novel constructions, to be hereinafter described or claimed, for carrying out the above stated objects and such other objects as may here1nafter appear.

The character of the invention may be best understood by reference to one illustrative device embodying the invention and illustrated by the several figures in the accompanying drawing in which the Figure 1 is an elevation of the buckle; the Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of the Figure 1; and the Figure 3 is a top view of the buckle.

The invention is not limited to any specific form of construction and the details of the device may be varied to produce the novel features hereinafter claimed, the device as illustrated, however, is a prong buckle com prising the frame portion 1 and the prong portion 2 assembled for a relative pivotal movement. The two portions of the buckle are each preferably formed of wire. A middle portion 3 of the wire of which the frame portion is constructed is flattened in the plane of the frame substantially throughout such middle portion, the flattened portion being bent to provide the spaced arched sections 4, the remaining end portions of the wire being bent to provide a rounded corner of the frame extending wholly beyond the flattened portion 3, the two side arms 5 of the frame being set in and parallelly extending at right angles to the flattened portion of the frame, the wire extremities being looped to provide the looped ends 6. A middle portion of the wire of which the prong portion is constructed is 1929. Serial no. 374,392.

bent to form the'loop 7 laterally extending flush with the outstanding rounded corner of the frame portion and having the lower bar 8 and the bar portions 9 substantially parallel thereto, the extremities of the wire being turned away from the loop 7 to provide the spaced prongs 10; g The two parts of the device are assembled by means of the looped ends 6 being looped around the bar portions 9, permitting a limited relative pivotal movement of the buckle portions so that, when the buckle portions lie substantially in the same plane, the prong points lie protectingly within the spaced arched covering 4 and a rectangular open area of buckle is established between the parallel side arms 5 and extending from the flattened portion to the base of the spaced prongs 10 to permit a strap (not illustrated), of a width equal to the length of the flattened portion of the frame, to be pierced by the prongs 10 and thus suspended from the base of the prongs 10 without crimping the strap along its width. The arm portions 9 are downwardly off-set before being bent to form the prongs 10 so that the lowest line of each portion 9-is in alignment with the lowest line of each looped end 6 to maintain a substantially unbroken interior line of loop formation of the loop 7.

I claim:

1. A prong buckle comprising a prong member having a bar with extremities bent to form arm portions with spaced prongs turned away from the bar, and a frame memher having a flattened portion bent to pro-,

vide spaced arched coverings extending entirely across the width and below one surface of the flattened portion to receive the pointed extremities of the prongs, the frame member having side arms the ends of which are looped around the arm portions of the prong member and permitting a limited relative pivotal movement to swing the prongs into and away from the protecting arched coverings.

2. A prong buckle comprising a wire prong member having a loop portion with upper bar portions partially off-set into the loop and then bent away from the loop to provide spaced prongs, and a wire frame memher having a middle flattened portion lying in the plane of the buckle and bent to provide spaced arched sections extending entirely across the width and below one surface of the flattened portion adapted to receive the pointed extremities of the prongs, the frame member having depending arms with ends, each looped around an upper b-ar portion of the loop of the prong member, the lowest line of each looped end being in alignment with the lowest line of the off-set portion to maintain a substantially unbroken interior line of the loop portion of the prong member.

3. A prong buckle comprising a prong member and a frame member, the members being pivot-ally connected, the prong memher having prongs, and the frame member having a bar portion bent to provide spaced arched sections thereof extending entirely across the width and below one surface of the bar portion into which the pointed extremities of the prongs may be swung for protection.

JESSUP SALISBURY. 

